Cursor Setup Guide: From Install to Your First AI Edit

To set up Cursor: download it at cursor.com, sign in, and import your VS Code extensions and settings in one click during onboarding. Pick a model (Auto is the safe default), accept a Tab suggestion, ask the Agent for one scoped change, then add a project rule. Total time: about 10 minutes.

Cursor is an AI code editor built as a fork of VS Code, so the layout, keybindings, and extensions feel familiar while the AI features sit on top. This guide takes you from a fresh download to your first accepted AI edit using the current Cursor 3 interface: install the app, import your VS Code setup, choose a model, and try the three core tools, Tab, the Agent, and project rules.

What you need

• A Mac, Windows, or Linux machine
• A Cursor account (free Hobby plan is fine to start)
• A small project or folder to open
• About 10 minutes

Step 1: Install Cursor

Download the installer for your platform from cursor.com and run it. On first launch Cursor shows an onboarding wizard where you sign in or create an account and choose a keyboard layout. No credit card is required for the free Hobby plan.

Step 2: Import your VS Code settings and extensions

Because Cursor is built on VS Code, it can bring over your extensions, themes, keybindings, and user settings in one click. Accept the import prompt during onboarding. If you skipped it, you can trigger it later from Cursor Settings, under General, Account, Import VS Code Settings, or from the three-dots menu in the Extensions panel.

Step 3: Pick a model

Open the AI input (Cmd/Ctrl+L for the chat sidebar) and use the model picker in the chat header. Auto mode routes your request to a suitable model automatically, Composer is Cursor's own in-house model tuned for speed, and you can also pin a specific third-party frontier model such as Claude Sonnet or a GPT model. The available models and how usage is billed depend on your plan.

Step 4: Understand the plans before you commit

You can do everything in this guide on the free tier. The table below was verified against the public plans on cursor.com in July 2026: paid plans run on a monthly credit pool worth the same dollar amount as the price, so Pro carries a $20 pool and Ultra a $200 pool, while Auto mode stays unlimited and does not draw from it. Pricing and limits change, so confirm the current numbers on the official pricing page before you upgrade.

Step 5: Make your first edit with Tab

Tab is Cursor's autocomplete on steroids. Start typing in a file and Cursor suggests multi-line completions, including edits across nearby lines. Press Tab to accept a suggestion. This is the fastest way to feel the difference from a plain editor.

// Start typing a function signature and let Tab complete the body:
export function formatPrice(cents: number): string {
  // press Tab here; Cursor suggests the implementation
}

Step 6: Ask the Agent for a change

The Agent is the conversational, multi-file mode. Open it with Cmd/Ctrl+L, describe a concrete change, and it proposes edits across the relevant files. Review each diff and accept or reject it, just like reviewing a pull request. Keep your first request small and specific.

Step 7: Add a project rule

Rules give the AI persistent context about your project so you stop repeating conventions in every prompt. Project rules live in the .cursor/rules folder as .mdc files with frontmatter. You can also drop an AGENTS.md file in the project root for plain-markdown instructions without frontmatter.

---
description: Project coding conventions
globs: src/**/*.ts
alwaysApply: true
---

- Use named exports, never default exports.
- Currency values are integer cents, never floats.
- Add a Vitest test for every new exported function.

Result: Cursor is installed with your VS Code setup intact, a model selected, and you have made an edit with Tab, run a change through the Agent, and added a rule the AI will respect going forward. From here, every larger task is the same loop at greater scope.